Church Leadership

Hillary brings more than 18 years of ordained leadership, having served in parishes of all sizes and contexts. She began her ministry at Trinity in Bethlehem, PA, an urban congregation with a robust soup kitchen, where she gained experience in community advocacy and operational leadership. She later served at St. David’s in Wayne, PA., the Episcopal Church’s 18th largest parish, coordinating pastoral care, theological formation, and fellowship programs for a broad and diverse community. For the past 12 years, she has served as the first female Rector of St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church near Philadelphia, where she led the parish and its Day School through significant spiritual and numerical growth, while nurturing a joyful and inclusive culture centered on outreach and shared worship.

Hillary is passionate about helping people deepen their connection to God through traditional and innovative means. She is the founder of The Hive, an award-winning online community focused on spirituality and wellness (www.thehiveapiary.com). The Hive has become a thriving nonprofit with a global reach and has partnered with the Episcopal Church to create widely used resources, including the Way of Love Lenten curriculum and Holy Week broadcasts.

Hillary is also an accomplished scholar and teacher. She holds a Master of Divinity from Yale University and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, and a Doctor of Ministry from Drew University, where her work focused on worship, preaching, and reconciliation. She currently serves as the Founding Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program and Director of the Center for Christian Spirituality at The General Theological Seminary. Her academic work explores topics like leadership, reconciliation, preaching, trauma, and Indigenous theology—including meaningful research with her own tribe, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Native Americans, on ritual and intersectionality.

Hillary is a frequent contributor to Episcopal publications and podcasts, including the Church’s Prophetic Voices preaching podcast, and is often invited to speak, teach, and lead retreats around the country. She has served on numerous national church committees and boards and was honored to be a finalist in the bishop elections in both the Diocese of Vermont (2019) and the Diocese of Olympia (2024).

As a pastor, Hillary is known for her warmth, deep listening, and creative spirit. She is also a spiritual director, yoga and meditation instructor, forest therapist, and beekeeper, and brings a holistic approach to ministry grounded in love, joy, and justice.

Hillary is married to Ken Raining, a reference librarian, and together they are the proud parents of a teenager, Delia, who brings endless light and laughter to their lives. They are all excited to become part of the St. Columba’s family and the broader Washington, DC community.

Joshua has failed at many things in life. For all but one year of his baseball career (which ended in Little League) he was an abysmal right-handed batter. In middle school he strove, but failed, to make honor-roll. He was a stalwart of the bench in junior high basketball, getting only one chance to prove his mettle: his coach subbed-him-in when the game was on the line and tied against his school’s archrival, the Elmwood Raiders; within moments he managed to make a quick steal with an open court and easy layup ahead of him, but instead he dribbled the ball off his foot and out-of-bounds. He “rode the bench” until he finally quit his sophomore year. Later in high school he reached above his station and signed up for honors English; however he was soon asked (“strongly requested”) to drop out by one of the most admired teachers in his school. In his early twenties he was fired from a part-time job at a fancy Italian restaurant in St. Louis, MO (mostly, he thinks, for not understanding the je ne sais quoi of French Red Wine). In college he graduated a semester late due to misunderstanding the rather complicated sequence of his college’s foreign language credit system. Soon thereafter he stumbled into graduate school, unwittingly entering a 12 year doom-loop of full-time studies, which he finally escaped at the age of 35. His first calling as a priest in Arkansas ended in total disaster. His three beautiful children do not agree on much but managed to find rare consensus on his “cringe” rating: an impressive 97%. In the late 2000s, his wife once compared him to Johnny Depp, circa Depp’s Edward Scissorhands days. 

By the grace of God Joshua has come to work at St. Columba’s, a spirit-filled place that strives to honor the dignity of every single person as beloved children of God, warts and all. Joshua delights in the never ending river of forgiveness and mercy he continually receives from Jesus; and he draws on a tantalizingly similar affection from his family who somehow know just what to say to call him up off the ground and to get him to try again. 

Joshua loves to meet new and familiar faces from around the parish and neighborhood and hear their own journeys of faith: the stories easily shared, the stories hard to name, the stories that seem to have slipped through the cracks. 

Joshua began at St. Columba’s in March 2020, arriving simultaneously with the great pandemic. He would not meet most parishioners in-person for another year and a half. You can find out more about his background and current projects here. 

The Rev. David Griswold was appointed by Bishop Marianne Budde in 2017 to serve as deacon at St. Columba’s.  He serves in approximately one-third-time, non-stipendiary capacity.

David serves liturgically on Sundays, proclaiming the Gospel, preparing the table and occasionally preaching. He also leads the Bible, Coffee and Conversation group most Sundays and supports our community engagement, justice, formation and pastoral care ministries.  David serves as staff liaison to St. C’s Community Engagement Ministry Council.  His activities include work with our Refugee Response Ministry and among guests and volunteers of the Water Ministry, leading an ongoing Prayer and Bible Circle. David also leads a monthly weekday worship service with residents of Friendship Terrace. In 2024 he organized the parish’s first Racial Justice Pilgrimage to sites associated with the civil rights movement in Alabama.  David may also serve beyond our walls to advance the mission of the diocese.  

Coming to Washington in the 1980s to work as a congressional aide, he joined St. Margaret’s Church in DC and served as a lay leader for over 30 years, focusing especially on Christian education and community outreach. He served on the Board of Directors of the non-profit organization known today as Housing Up. After earning a Master of Theological Studies at Wesley Seminary in 2012, David participated in Clinical Pastoral Education at Sibley Hospital. Granted Postulancy in 2014, he completed Deacons’ School training, which included an internship with Samaritan Ministry of Greater Washington.

Brooks is an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Washington who serves as the school chaplain at St. Albans School for Boys. He received his BA in psychology from Skidmore College; his MDIV from Union Theological Seminary and his post-graduate diploma in Anglican Studies from Virginia Theological Seminary.

At St. Albans, Brooks provides pastoral care to the community, teaches Bible and Philosophy of Religion courses in the high school division, is a member of the counseling staff and the Senior Administration, and oversees bi-weekly chapel services for students and faculty. Brooks is married to Courtney Hutchinson Hundley. They are the parents of a son, James, and a daughter, Caroline.

Adelyn Tyler-Williams serves at the Associate Rector for Worship and Discipleship, in other words she spends time on all things liturgy and works with the staff team to support Christian education. Prior to joining the staff at St. Columba’s, she served in Fayetteville, AR overseeing outreach and justice ministries at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and serving as campus chaplain at St. Martin’s Episcopal University Center. She is originally from Atlanta, GA and was ordained by the Diocese of Atlanta in 2021.

Adelyn earned her Master of Divinity from Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, TX and her Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies at Sewanee: University of the South. She has particular interest in the intersection of art and spirituality, queer theology, and embodied faith.

Beyond church, Adelyn loves cooking, crafting, and exploring. Her wife, Angela, is a Presbyterian pastor and a founder of SACReD (Spiritual Alliance of Communities for Reproductive Dignity). They live with Mouse the Cat.

Santana Bartoldus (pronounced “Sahn-TAH-nah”) is a Master of Divinity student at Virginia Theological Seminary, and a postulant to the priesthood in the Diocese of Maryland. Hailing from Frederick, she is a former church musician, and has served as Director of Music Ministries at the Church of the Transfiguration, Braddock Heights (MD), St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church of Utica (MD), and as Associate Music Director at All Saints’ Episcopal, Frederick. While in Frederick she served as Assistant Director of The Frederick Chorale, and performed as a freelance keyboardist throughout Maryland and Washington. In her other life, Santana is also a board certified music therapist (MT-BC), and has done extensive work with people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, terminal illness, and grief/bereavement. Santana holds a Master of Music in music therapy from Colorado State University, and a Bachelor of Arts in music from Yale University. She lives with her daughter Maggie and husband Brian, who is the Artistic Director of the Handel Choir of Baltimore and Music Director at Frederick Presbyterian Church.

In 1994, Joy was one of the first women to be ordained in the Church of England. Her ministry in the inner – city embraced the needs of the poor, homeless, mentally ill, families, youth and the elderly. She was the inspiration behind the hit BBC sitcom, The Vicar of Dibley, starring Dawn French and authored The Woman Behind the Collar: The Pioneering Journey of an Episcopal Priest. As a parent, Joy was the commissioner of Little League Baseball, fundraiser, event planner, PTA President, President of the local High School Baseball Boosters and organizer of high school baseball service trips to the Dominican Republic. In recent years she has enjoyed creating sea glass art with the beach glass she finds on Block Island and loves being involved with an art gallery and summer art fairs on the island. She is a founding board member and currently board Chair of the Wild Goose Festival. Joy lives in Washington DC with her husband, Jim Wallis. They have 2 adult sons, Luke and Jack